Each month Devenir highlights a selection of articles to keep you abreast of the latest trends and developments in the HSA marketplace.
A summary of the articles included in the April 2019 edition:
- Credit Union HSA Update: 12/31/2018
- Reps. Kind, Meng, Walorski, and LaHood Introduce Bill to Lower Health Care Costs
- Why Amazon Accepting HSA Dollars Is a Big Deal
- HSA Bank Health & Wealth Index Reveals 3 Key Findings About Consumer Engagement
- HSA Investment Advice: Think Twice Before Spending HSA Funds
- Nationwide Retirement Institute Survey Finds Few Business Owners Fully Understand Health Savings Accounts and Are Hungry To Learn More
Credit Union HSA Update: 12/31/2018
Devenir published our latest quarterly analysis of how health savings accounts are faring among credit unions at the beginning of March, finding at the end of 2018 credit unions held about $1.62 billion in HSA deposits.
Reps. Kind, Meng, Walorski, and LaHood Introduce Bill to Lower Health Care Costs
U.S. Reps. Ron Kind (D-WI), Grace Meng (D-NY), Jackie Walorski (R-IN) and Darin LaHood (R-IL) introduced the bipartisan Restoring Access to Medication Act, which will improve access to care and help families afford the medications and other health care products they need. The bill will give individuals the ability to use HSAs and FSAs to purchase over-the-counter medications and menstrual care products.
Why Amazon Accepting HSA Dollars Is a Big Deal
Amazon’s move to allow consumers to use their HSA or FSA to purchase thousands of eligible items on its site – from Band-Aids to contact solution and cold medicine – is a smart initiative from the online shopping giant.
HSA Bank Health & Wealth Index Reveals 3 Key Findings About Consumer Engagement
HSA Bank released its annual HSA Bank Health & Wealth Index for 2019 today, a report that explores how consumers are faring when it comes to their financial and physical health. Each consumer received a combined health and wealth score between zero and 100. Of those surveyed the average consumer remains highly engaged in their health and wealth with an average index score of 62.3 in 2019, compared to 62.4 in 2018.
HSA Investment Advice: Think Twice Before Spending HSA Funds
HSAs are pitched mostly as a tax-advantaged financial tool to help those with high-deductible health plans control current medical costs. But here’s a little HSA investment advice: Think hard before you spend your HSA funds. Some folks can pay their health care bills without tapping their account balance. They may leave HSA funds untouched in a savings account, accumulating a bit of interest. But others choose to invest unused HSA money in stocks, mutual funds or other assets, especially if they can afford to pay out-of-pocket medical bills from other sources for several years. The goal with investing funds is simple: Boost HSA funds available in retirement when health care needs likely will be more expensive and more frequent.
Nationwide Retirement Institute Survey Finds Few Business Owners Fully Understand Health Savings Accounts and Are Hungry To Learn More
New research from the Nationwide Retirement Institute® finds the majority of business owners (55 percent) consider the cost of healthcare to be the biggest expense for those in retirement, outpacing housing (24 percent), taxes (12 percent), food (6 percent) and transportation (1 percent). Yet, just one in five (20 percent) business owners fully understand important elements of health savings accounts (HSAs), according to the survey of 406 U.S. business owners with 11-500 employees.